how to protect strawberries from roly poly and other pests?

murfilein

we have a pretty small gardening area (a strip, rather), of like 90-100cm depth and maybe 2 meter length in our backyard.

we planted 1 single strawberry plant that our daughter got the year we moved in from her school. this has spread all other the area now, which is great and gives us a good amount of strawberries every year.

however many of the berries are eaten by bugs like roly polys (whatever their correct name is) and birds.

while we dont have the bird problem this year, the roly polys are still annoying. just this morning my daughter saw a very red strawberry, but when she turned it around is was almost hollow

what can we do to prevent critters from nibbling away our strawberries?

Field east

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058300481/how-to-protect-strawberries-from-roly-poly-and-other-pests

Get your typical one litre milk carton . Make an opening ,say , one inch above the bottom of it . Ie make a square flap , say, one inch square while leaving the top of the flap acting as a hinge. The flap will act as a kind of a lean to to help keep the rain out. Put in circa quarter inch cheap beer and place carton or two amongst your berries. Rinse and refresh every week. The slugs , if that is your problem, can be very tiny - less than quarter inch but a few of them can chew a lot in one night - so don’t be looking for those big snails only as culpits. They love beer. Pick every late evening if anyway ripe . Hope above substantially works for you , if tried

murfilein

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120703894#Comment_120703894

that's... interesting. however our issue aren't slugs, but roly poly/pill bugs

bored_newbie

I have a few beds for strawberries in the tunnel. The first batch got eaten so I covered the ground around the plants with cardboard. The cardboard just ensures they aren't sitting in wet soil and gives you a little extra time to collect them before they're taken. We still had the odd one taken but not many. The main thing is to be quick collecting them in my experience. I've seen a few ideas online about reusing plastic bottles to ensure the fruit doesn't droop onto the soil but haven't tried them yet.

bullpost

Saw diatomaceous earth recommended recently but havent tried it.

I have mine in raised bed, but the very tiny slugs are hard to find and seem to do an awful lot of damage. I'm out every night picking them off but its a pain.

BorneTobyWilde

It's birds, some light netting over them will solve it

RebelButtMunch

I think the pill bugs only eat dead material like old leaves. Slugs, even tiny ones are a pest for the strawberries. Also I've seen millipeeds laying eggs into them

murfilein

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718257#Comment_120718257

yeah i think we will try to cover the ground. i've seen videos where the entire ground is covered with holes cut for each strawberry plant... that seems weird? like, seems like a lot of effort. and what with new plants that may grow? anyway, i suppose the cardboard is worth a try

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718343#Comment_120718343

will have a look at that, if its not too pricey it may be worth a try to sprinkle that around

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718502#Comment_120718502

yeah we already have netting for birds :D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718527#Comment_120718527

could be leaves, out plants are very close to the ground...

looksee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718527#Comment_120718527

Nope! Pill bugs aka woodlice are very happy to curl up in a strawberry! Its the babies that do it so I don't know whether they hatch in the strawberry or creep in after. They carve out a nice little round hole and curl up in it. They are...crunchy.

murfilein

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120719130#Comment_120719130

yeah we picked some red strawberries yesterday evening.

some were essentially hollow (while looking just fine from the outside) with 4-5 woodlice inside

RebelButtMunch

Funnily enough my missus said the same about the pill bugs. I'm guessing they are crawling inside a hole created by slugs.

Anyway I experimented with beer traps at the weekend and here's my findings

Beer. Heniken works better than IPA

Beer trap made from a bottle with the top cut off and placed inverted back into the bottle. Attracted a couple of full size slugs but they didnt go into the trap. Works well as an 'attractor'.

Beer trap made from a tub of greek yoghurt. 4 slots in the side, and the lid left on. Most morning's it has about 15-20 dead tiny/mid size slugs in it. Big slugs are attracted to it but I've only found 1 big slug dead inside. I've found a couple of big ones hanging around it.

RebelButtMunch

1 more experiment

I stripped a copper wire and wrapped that around the raised bed. I've never seen a slug crawl over it. Not that I'm watching 24 hours or anything f.w.i.w

bullpost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733080#Comment_120733080

Interesting. I bought some copper tape but not practical for raised beds - expensive and falls off in the rain.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120733062#Comment_120733062

Been doing some experimenting of my own.

Beer traps don't really work, they will catch lots of slugs but also just attract more slugs into the area. Slugs are cannibals, if the smell of beer doesn't attract them the stench of death will.

Copper/copper tape had some success, seems to stop small slugs but larger ones will tolerate it.

We grow a lot of vulnerable veg in containers hanging in the poly tunnel which works well.

Also using 2 concentric metal strips around large pots and raised beds with a 9V battery linked between them, slugs won't cross these.

This fella bent in a hoop to retreat.

RebelButtMunch

How long does the battery last?

emaherx

No idea, been using them about 2 months and they still read over 9V on multimeter. There is no current flow except when slug or something else shorts them. I'd imagine battery could be drained fairly quickly if shorted out by vegetation, but it needs to be kept clear anyway or slugs would use as a bridge.

RebelButtMunch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120740472#Comment_120740472

nice one. Can you post how you rigged it up please?

DavyD_83

This is amazing, would also love some detail on how exactly you have it connected etc.

I'm also wondering would this help keep my dog out of the beds, and be easy better than the chicken wire fence I've currently resorted to. If need to check how noticeable the 9v is on myself first ;)

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120743511#Comment_120743511

I'm afraid your dog won't feel it unless it licks it (same goes for you )

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120743511#Comment_120743511

Yea, I can post more pictures later, but it is fairly simple. Fixing metal strips with an even spacing is the hardest bit.

emaherx

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-Volt-Alkaline-Batteries-Pack-White/dp/B00MH4QM1S/ref%3Dsr_1_1_ffob_sspa?crid=1QS4B33CXZ3VZ&keywords=9v+batteries&qid=1687356051&sprefix=9v+batteries%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GTIWUNG-Battery-Holder-Switch-Connecter/dp/B09SG8X11T/ref%3Dsr_1_13_sspa?crid=2MCLWSDT0XRIQ&keywords=9v+battery+box&qid=1687355989&sprefix=9v+battery+box%2Caps%2C63&sr=8-13-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

Pretty much just need some batteries and connect positive to one metal track and negative to the other. Bought some battery enclosures from amazon and tied the wires around the fixing screws. Metal tracks can be anything like the galvanized metal banding I've used or fencing wire or just copper/silver tape. The important thing is the tacks are close but not touching or shorted by plants, wet soil or anything else conductive (except the slugs/snails).

First tests were done with 3 pots tied to a single 5V PSU, plant damage in the pictures was before as this picture was taken during setup.

5V works well too, but the 9V batteries are more convenient and will last well after they drop below 9V.

Wires wrapped around fixing screws, soil is below level of top screw to avoid shorting at the back.